Elite Traveler Fall 2022

EXPLORE NEWHOTELS by Luke Abrahams

there’s some take-home souvenirs in the store). It’s really the French doors that do the talking, though. Magically set to the hum and drum of the desert’s enigmatic horizon, these fl oor-to-ceiling openings in the walls invite you to immerse yourself into Shaharut’s still nothingness. Lounge here day and night, and you’ll fi nd the eerie silence of the Negev is almost poetic. DINE It’s all local, fresh and seasonal — the Six Senses way, Aussie resort manager Alicia tells me as we gorge on a new menu in restaurant Midian. Dips, sauces, breads, cured veggies… anything mezze-style is worth devouring from the à la carte menu. Perhaps another plus of eating here is the view. Come breakfast, and weather permitting, you can feast as I did on a delicious spread of local, regional and Israeli takes on Western classics (the spicy avocado on toast with tahini is divine) as you take in panoramas of Jordan, Egypt and Eilat. Then there’s the bar, Jamillah, a sexy, low-lit kind of spot that features artisanal heritage antique knickknacks sourced from

further three dedicated to grinding rubble into sand for cement and putting the jigsaw together — and the fi nal three making sure the hotel was clad into the desert as sustainably as humanly possible. The result? It’s a leading wonder of the hotel world. STAY At fi rst sight, the extraordinary design of the place knocks you out. A contemporary ode to the ancient nomadic Nabataeans (who would have once crossed these parts atop their camels some 2,000 years ago along the incense route from the Persian Gulf to the port of Gaza), the resort (it almost feels blasphemous calling it a resort) is hidden away in the rocks, clipped by the odd lavender plot, storied trees and mammoth pile of rocks. It’s all very minimalist, and that’s the underlying point; it is a refreshing take on restraint. Everything is light, bright and airy. The walls are fi nished o ff in sandy tadelakt plaster, the ceilings custom-made from reclaimed teak, and the furniture and art — much of it sourced from the neighboring community of Shaharut — draped in deliciously rich Bedouin-inspired fabrics (thankfully,

Six Senses Shaharut ISRAEL Practically in the middle of nowhere, Six Senses Shaharut is a hidden sanctuary of boutique-style villas stretching over 46 acres. It overlooks the almost boundless, supernatural landscape of the Negev Desert, which spirals all the way up to the dizzying peaks of the Edom Mountains in neighboring Jordan. Hewn from the very rock that you see scattered around the scorched moonlike desert, this Six Senses wonder is a truly remarkable feat of modern eco-minded engineering. Since it was nine years in the making, calling it a ‘hot new opening’ would be a disservice. With a vision to not impinge on the landscape whatsoever, owner and Israeli entrepreneur Ronny Douek broke the bank and spent more than $130m to protect the surroundings from his own passion project. To put it all into perspective, the fi rst three years were devoted to carving out the cli ff that’s now home to the resort, followed by a

This image Traverse Israel’s landscape on horseback